The only difficult choice collectors may have when adding a Ryne Sandberg rookie card to their collection is...
which one?
By the time Sandberg made his MLB debut, competition in the hobby was heating up and multiple companies were fighting for a piece of the pie.
Gone were the days when Topps was the only game in town and most guys had only one rookie card.
For example, some of the guys Sandberg competed against, like George Brett and Rickey Henderson, started in that era and had only one rookie card.
But Sandberg has four mainstream rookies.
The hobby was expanding, and so were collector options.
And in this guide, we'll take a detailed look at all of them.
Let's jump right in!
1983 Donruss #277 Ryne Sandberg Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $500
In 1981, Topps' stranglehold on the baseball card market finally ended.
Thanks to a legal ruling, Donruss and Fleer could now compete in the lucrative and growing hobby.
Donruss's first couple of sets in 1981 and 1982 are decent.
However, their third installation was arguably their best yet because it contained rookie cards from Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, and Ryne Sandberg.
The designs of the Donruss sets of the early 1980s are all fairly simple, but their 1983 set design is one of my favorites.
The nameplate at the bottom, in the form of a baseball bat, complemented by the team name cradled inside a mitt, adds a nice creative touch overall.
From 1983 until he retired, Sandberg served as the Chicago Cubs' full-time second basemen.
However, he spent the majority of his rookie 1982 campaign at the hot corner.
Hence, you'll note the "3B" position listed along the bottom of his Donruss and other rookies on this list.
This isn't Sandberg's most expensive rookie, but it isn't his cheapest either.
1983 Fleer #507 Ryne Sandberg Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $300
Some may find this surprising, but there are more PSA 10 examples of Sandberg's Fleer rookie than the other mainstream card manufacturers.
I always thought that Topps' quality control was a bit better than that of Donruss and Fleer at the time.
But Fleer's wasn't that bad after all.
PSA has graded just over 7,000 copies of this card, awarding just over 900 with a PSA 10 grade.
That means around 13% of them have found themselves in a PSA 10 holder.
By comparison, around 5% of his Donruss rookies have earned a PSA 10 grade, while his Topps and O-Pee-Chee rookies grade a PSA 10 roughly 3.5% and 2% of the time, respectively.
Therefore, since his Fleer rookie is relatively easier to find in PSA 10 condition, it makes sense that it is his "cheapest."
$300 for a PSA 10 example isn't peanuts, but it's far less than his others.
Pricing aside, I would have to say this is his least attractive rookie card, too.
Maybe other hobbyists agree and that could also play into the lower value.
1983 O-Pee-Chee #83 Ryne Sandberg Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $4,500
Most manufacturers in 1983 featured rookie cards of future Hall-of-Famers Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, and Ryne Sandberg.
O-Pee-Chee was an exception.
Since they were produced for the Canadian market, O-Pee-Chee checklists typically contained smaller checklists than their Topps counterpart.
So that meant a given player who appeared in the Topps set didn't always appear in the O-Pee-Chee set.
Fortunately for the hobby, Gwynn and Sandberg made the '83 O-Pee-Chee checklist.
Boggs didn't.
In Gwynn and Sandberg's cases, their O-Pee-Chee rookies are easily their most expensive.
Not only are they more scarce to begin with compared to their Donruss, Fleer and Topps counterparts, they're relatively more difficult to find in PSA 10 condition.
O-Pee-Chee cardstock was notorious for being lower quality and plagued with print issues.
That makes PSA 10 grades nearly impossible.
Of the 1,155 submitted to PSA as of this writing, just 25 have come back in a PSA 10 holder.
That's why this card can cost thousands of dollars.
Aesthetically, the card features nearly the same design as his Topps rookie.
However, the O-Pee-Chee logo is clearly marked on the front, while the reverse side features the O-Pee-Chee branding and French text.
1983 Topps #83 Ryne Sandberg Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $1,250
Ryne Sandberg's most widely recognized rookie card is his 1983 Topps #83.
The design is iconic, with a bit of a nod to Topps' 1963 set, where smaller, encircled player headshots accompany larger main images.
And the action shot of Sandberg in his stance wearing the Chicago Cubs pinstriped home jerseys is arguably the best of his quartet of mainstream rookies.
I remember when you could pick up a PSA 10 example of this card for under $400 several years ago.
But, those days are long gone.
Now, you'll easily pay over $1,000.
PSA has graded around 22,000 examples of this card and awarded just under 800 of them with a PSA 10 grade.
That's about a 3.5% rate.
Though Donruss and Fleer were in the mix and competing with Topps throughout the 1980s, a given player's Topps rookie is usually his most favorable.
And that's certainly the case for Sandberg.
That should help his Topps rookie hold up well for years to come.
The Ryne Sandberg Rookie Card Review
Now that we've gone through the list, here are some of my thoughts on Ryne Sandberg's rookie cards:
Most Valuable: Sandberg's most valuable rookie card is his 1983 O-Pee-Chee #83, which can be worth over $4,500 in PSA 10 condition.
Least Valuable: The 1983 Fleer #507 is his least valuable rookie card and, as I mentioned, it likely is mostly because of how much easier it is to find in a PSA 10 holder.
My Favorite: I would have to say it's a tie between the O-Pee-Chee and Topps rookies. The design is basically the same, minus the logos and French text. Obviously, they're the most expensive, too, making them more desirable from a monetary standpoint. As collectors, I think we're just lucky that Sandberg (and Gwynn) made the '83 O-Pee-Chee checklist to begin with.
My Least Favorite: I like all of Sandberg's rookies because he was one of my favorite players to watch growing up. But if I had to choose a least favorite, I guess I would go with his Fleer rookie. I just don't like the design as much as the others. That's the only reason.